Episode 24 Show Agenda

Shane writes in response to episode 22 RPG Wikis and Dissemination of Info:

Thanks again for the talk on Wikis and Digital campaign design. Ultimately I decided to go with something I know and like and that would let me create the pages as I wanted the to look.

I have for sometime tried to keep ahead of my players by creating twisted campaign settings that are expandable enough to accommodate anything my players want to do and are system neutral enough that we can hybridize anything we like from game or edition to fuse into our OSRIC like gaming madness.

This time I am creating something that will surprise me as much as the players. I created a world in which creation itself is constantly in flux. In which noble acts literally give rise to the land while dark corruption shocks create chasms into the landscape. I created a short series of random tables that describes the basics of life: plant, animal, insectoid, aberrant. Then I created separate tables for society politics and physical hierarchy. (is the location deep in a corruptive chasm or high in a lofty spire)

Once the basics of location and beings were established I went to pinterest and search through images for the players to relate to. The realm is set up as an every changing and every expanding domain in which we can trade DM’s or entire systems.

Chris Hussey writes in response to episode 023 – What Have RPGs Done For You?:

I actually do make mention of RPGs on my resume/LinkedIn profile (I think it’s still there). I do this because it is an excellent conversation piece in an interview (though granted, I haven’t had many – hmmmm), and it is a chance to talk about the strengths RPGs give you in the real world

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You know I am not a buyer or runner of pre-made adventures. I guess this topic hits it on the head. Most of the pre-mades I have read over are very heavy on the railroading side of GMing. This may not get under any other players skin, but it gives me a royal rash. If there is only one path to the end, I would have more fun reading a badly written book.
Now with that said I am not wanting a sandbox world without any rules or consequences for the actions taken. Being a player or GM a living and reactive setting makes for a much better adventure.
As a GM I try to make the setting grow and change with the character’s choices. When the party is being told about the world give them options.
When I was starting the RoleMaster game, I made sure the party knew about the ruff bar, the docks, the woods to the north, the inn they were in, information about every NPC they did and could have meet and bits of background in their own past. The game is not set up for them to pick one path and that is the only way to gather clues they may need. Each path may or may not tie to other paths. The party could finish a quest and end up right back where they started, looking over the same options they started with. Maybe understanding the clue I gave them or not, to the big picture quest I have playing out in the background. At first the party most likely will not see the big picture quest and even if they do the party will need to pick many other paths to find clues and gather skills to solve the big picture quest. No matter how long or short it take the party it understand and/or want do take on the big picture quest. The world keeps growing and changing adding more options to the sandbox. This way of play gives the player all the power in growth of the character. Some players may be driven to find all the clues and head out on the big picture quest. Some players don’t care and built a character who will live through what ever world changes happen. Some players may build a character who becomes powerful enough to through their actions change the big picture quest without even knowing it. This is the point of playing in a sandbox type world the players/parties actions make the sandbox as simple, complex, large, small, short lived or never ending.